The Long Road
by Steeve the Fox
Summary: The first story ark of the Richerds and Ross Fanfiction series.


Ark 1: The Long Road / Act 1: New Kid on The Block…

*** 2554, UNSC Frigate: Nebraska ***

"Welcome to the Nebraska, soldiers. This tub will be your little slice of heaven while you are part of the Spartan program being run here. Now, this fine doctor here has a few words to give us before we head into hell, so I suggest you listen up!" Greeted a man with a cigar in his hand. A much taller guy walked into the brightly lit storage room, clearing his throat.

"Thank-you, Sargent Major. You have all been drafted, into a new Spartan program because you are the best of the best. You will be heroes, because we need you to be. Please, get to know each other well; you are a new family. Team assignments will be posted next week." He said, leaving.

I looked around the room, at so many faces that I didn't know. A woman tapped on my right shoulder, while the noise started to rise with the conversation.

"Hey, you look down. Come over here and meet some people!" She exclaimed with enthusiasm, dragging me over to a really tall man, who was looking at her with an arched brow.

"Who's your friend?" He asked her, pointing to me with a metal hand. I looked to see his other arm was prosthetic as well.

"I don't know yet, he looked so forlorn just standing away from everyone." She said, turning to look at me. I sort of shifted my weight when I saw her other eye; it was some kind of electronic prosthetic that was lit with a blue inner light.

"Well, I'm Rob. And that's Ash next to you." The tall man introduced. Ash looked at my face for a while, her features contorting with thought.

"Uh, right. I'm Steve, but would prefer to be called by my last name; Richerds." I told Rob, now getting a bit nervous around Ash's stare.

"Hmm, shrapnel scaring around the face, signs of sleep depravity, mix in a bit of paranoia, with a stout attitude; you were an ODST, right?" She asked, tilting her head to the side just slightly. I tensed up a bit, and nodded. She laughed, and Rob handed her some money.

"What was the bet?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh, he questioned my people reading powers again." Ash said, pointing a thumb back at Rob.

"Guess that's why you're a medic." Rob commented, folding his arms over his chest.

"So, you got any family back home?" Ash quarried, pulling a stick of chewing gum from her back pocket.

"I'd rather not talk about that." I spat grimly. Ash nodded solemnly, starting on the gum.

"Got it, so what about a girl? You got one who made it out to another colony before the aliens glassed the home front?" She persisted, chewing her gum loudly. I groaned, and just took a deep breath.

"Ash, he doesn't seem like a people person." Rob interjected, cutting her interrogation short.

"What about you? You feel like sharing your story?" I asked in a poor attempt to change the subject from Wendy.

"Shure, but you're sharing the story about your girl next." She countered, spitting the wad of chewed gum into the wrapper and pocketing it.

"So I started out as a surgeon for a hospital on the rim, helping the community out whenever I could. Well, we started getting in soldiers. They really opened my eyes to what was happening with the war and all. So I joined up, and went through basic without much that made the record. Well then I get shipped off to this colony, Dustil."

"Hold on, you were on Dustil?" I interrupted, eyes drawing wide. She nodded.

"I was there for a while; they had me patching up the guys who were getting hit by the Rebels there. Well then hell targeted the colony, and the whole place was under attack. I was helping civilians get to the shuttles, despite orders to pull out from the 1st Lieutenant. I got myself demoted to ship work, and a large burn that took my right eye, along with 5 medals for bravery and heroism." She continued, as Rob shifted his weight to the other foot.

"Well, then I met this dumbass who got himself blown up." She teased, pointing at Rob.

"What about that eye?" I asked, wondering more about her history on Dustil.

"Oh, well it was new. I got it about a month ago." She said, as the color of the eye wilted a bit.

"So now it's your turn; I told you the summary of my story, now you tell me about that girl you're trying to hide." Ash commanded with glee. I sighed.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it. She is a sore subject with me." I told them. Ash leaned toward Rob a bit, and spoke up with another question.

"What, did you two split up?" She wondered vocally. I took a breath, and started back down memory lane.

"No, she disappeared; we fell under fire as something pulled her down into the sewers. By the time we had the area cleared, she was gone. All I found down there was her helmet, torn apart by claws."

"So she was enlisted?" Rob questioned, raising a scared brow.

"Look, it doesn't matter anyways; I lost her that day, and I will never forget her." I said darkly.

"Alright, I get it; no talking about your love life." Ash wined, waving a hand dismissively at the subject.

"Everyone report to the armory for your new armor! Let's move it people!" The Sargent Major shouted over the conversation, saving me from explaining anything more about my private life.

The room poured into the hallways, as the crowd moved towards the armory. We all fell into a single file line, moving down steel corridors to get our new gear. Eventually, we moved on through the steel halls into the brightly lit armory. Weapons and other equipment lined the walls on metal racks, and technicians moved around the room to get the recruits geared up. The line moved rather slowly, so conversation was no doubt on its way. Ahead of me, Ash looked off the right while one of the newly equipped soldiers passed my left and bumped into Rob behind me.

"Watch it!" The green clad Spartan spat, peering up at Rob's scarred face through a cold orange visor.

I looked over my shoulder to see one of the newly armored Spartans; a polished Mark V helmet painted drab green sat on his head with a bright visor of gold-orange to complete it. Ash turned to look at the events unfolding, with a few others.

"Perhaps you should be aware of where you're going; you might just stumble into someone who isn't as level headed as I am." Rob challenged, voice wet with sarcasm.

"Maybe you should take your sarcastic humor elsewhere; now, move the fuck out of my way." The Spartan retorted bitterly.

Ash took a step toward the two, raising her tone just in the slightest form of annoyance.

"What the hell crawled up your ass? You go and bump into someone and start chewing on them for it, what the hell?" Ash shouted, turning a few heads to the verbal fight.

"Do you normally get into other people's conversations?" The soldier asked, rounding his head to face her.

"Only when stupid gits start blowing up over some spilled tea." Ash commented.

"Do you normally have your girlfriend fight all your battles for you?" The Spartan questioned, rounding back to Rob. His face darkened as Ash came back into the fight.

"Hey, I'm just his friend." Ash vented rather calmly, despite her balled fists shaking violently at her sides. It looked like her eye was tinted just a little bit more red too.

"Really? That's not what your body language is saying." The heartless bastard deadpanned.

"Excuse me!" Ash exclaimed, eyebrows shooting for the top decks.

"Alright you little girls, chill out before you two strangle each other!" Sounded the gruff voice the Sargent Major, as he stepped in with another Spartan in white armor. The aggressor saluted and backed up five steps while Ash just straitened into attention.

"Names, now!" The Sargent Major ordered, looking at the two with a pair of glaring eyes.

"Staff Sargent Michael Wilson, sir!" Called the green Spartan.

"Private Ann Heinman, sir!" Ash called, as a few cogs started turning in my head and a bell rang saying that the names were somehow, familiar.

"You take Cyclops here, and make sure she gets some armor without picking anymore fights." The Sargent Major barked, looking to the Spartan in white.

"With all due respect sir, Sargent Wilson bumped into me. We started arguing and Private Heinman came to try and break us up." Rob piped, his voice turning into a rock.

"This true, Sargent?" The Sargent Major demanded, looking over at Michael.

"Yes, sir. It was an argument between me and him; she was just trying to stop the argument before it escalated into a fight, sir." Michael said. The Sargent Major nodded, and waved them all off, telling them not to let it happen again. Michael made for the exit as the room went back to work.

The line continued to move on without much more happening, as one-by-one everyone was fitted into their armor. My turn came around; they suited me up and told me how to do it myself. They gave me a slap on the back and let me leave for the Barracks room that I was assigned to.

Grabbing my personal affects and a large duffle bag holding a few other things, I traveled down cold corridors of steel, lights shining and people going about their work as usual. I arrived at room 203, and entered the small entry-way. Inside a blonde man sat, cleaning a rifle while whistling a tune to himself.

I entered and started to unbuckle the sections of ceramic armor, laying out the pieces on my bunk; as the other looked over to me with curious eyes. After the plates were assembled, I took off the under-suit; leaving me in fatigues. I went for my duffle bag, pulling one of the labeled cylinders of gray spray-paint and priming it for my armor. I laid on coats of paint until an ODST grey covered the once green drab plates.

When I had finished, I noticed the room was watching me; the Spartan had a smirk drawn across his face.

"Everything looks better in dark drab." He said with a dark chuckle.

"Especially when you're an ODST for five years." I retorted while reworking my old ODST helmet to sync with the new armor. I rigged my chest plate to the armor's along with my shoulder pads, adding another layer of defense to my new suit. I stowed my gear, packing it into the metal footlocker lying across the end of my bunk.

"So you bunking with us for good, or just until they find a place for you to stay later?" He asked, as I sat down on the firm synthetic layers of bedding that stretched along the beds steel frame.

"Nah, they just put me here until next week when I get my unit assignment." I explained while stretching out and laying back onto the bed. The blonde Spartan nodded, and continued to whistle his tune as I fell into the graceful arms of sleep once more.

_A pair of gleeful green eyes looked my way, as she approached with a long wrapped box. She handed it to me with a curled grin as I raised a brow. I opened the box carefully and peered down at the polished metal casing. A gun worthy of any king, with fine craftsmanship and sturdy frame sat in my arms. Somehow her smile grew wider, as she gave me a peck on the cheek. Just as soon as she returned to smiling, she faded away like sand being blown across a desert. Everything blew away into a black void of dreamlessness…_

"Hey, wake up man! Those postings just went up." I was waken to the calls of my bunkmate after a long week of armor training and combat drills. My past has a funny way of haunting me in my sleep as dreams of old memories and nightmares of Wen's ultimate fate after so many years. I sleepily took my armor pack and old duffle bag, making sure to retrieve my shotgun from the rack near the door.

I bid good-bye to everyone and sulked though quiet halls to the barracks' crowded lounge room that had the holographic team assignment list. I waded through seas of other soldiers to see where I would be headed next, while also grabbing a quick mug of coffee with the French toast breakfast. When I reached the large screen, I scanned over for my name in the postings. Finding it with a Noble Team, I looked to the room assigned and swam back to return the dishes I had borrowed and made for the exit.

Out in now more busy hallways, I went back towards the rooms and continued down the rows of numbers until I found room 601. I knocked on the steel door, before it slid apart as a stone face greeted me with a trimmed beard; the man stood almost as tall as Rob and blocked the door way with his frame. He stood before me with a battered face that fell in contrast to his warm smile.

"You another one of them newbies who needs directions?" He asked politely while something landed behind him with a loud clatter of noise as a yell sounded out.

"No, I'm here for reassignment to a, Noble Team." I answered, hesitating to remember the name. The man nodded, and turned to the room, still blocking the doorway.

"Six, perhaps you should go get the commander; he will want to know our new four is here." He said, as something shifted and made a metal click. The big guy moved into the room, and I took in the sight of an almost neat and tidy room; there was a locker that was lying on its side with a few things spilled across the cold floor.

A woman walked to the back of the room, full set of faded baby blue armor hiding her appearance. She was adjusting a prosthetic arm; it shifted and clicked as the third Spartan in the room made his way to the exit in steel-grey armor, a muted orange visor covering his face. I assumed that this fellow was Six. I entered the room, and helped the big guy get the locker back up and its contents parked away.

"So, you got a name?" The large guy questioned, closing the locker door.

"Most just call me Richerds, others used to call me Sarge before I was promoted." I returned coldly.

"I'm Jorge. I do most of the heavy weapons work for the team; the chap that just left we call Six. He doesn't really talk much, and keeps to himself." Jorge introduced, as the woman walked up to his right and turned a cold silver visor to me.

"I'm Kat, the local TE and second in command." She announced with a formal chill.

"I hear you were with the Helljumpers, Gunnery Sargent, should be interesting to see what you'll bring to the team." Kat said, exchanging a brief, firm gripped hand-shake. After a bit of silence from everyone, I spoke up with a poor attempt to start a conversation up.

"So anyone know what the Surprise Dinner is next week?" I opened with, looking to the Spartans in turn.

"I heard it was Meatloaf, though who really knows until it gets served?" A voice sang out behind me, his accent thick like everyone else's here.

"You're just in time to meet our new CQS. Richerds, this is Jun." Jorge spoke first to Jun and then to me as I swiveled around to greet man just a little shorter than me with Mars' fist tattooed across the left side of his bald head.

"You could call me your eyes in the sky." He commented with a smirk. I gave a stone nod, as Six entered the room with someone else; he was armored in deep blue that has faded into a cold grey at several points, and a pilot's helmet that followed his armor's paint scheme sat upon his head.

"Gear up Noble, we have another job." He said with commanding authority. His head swiveled to me and he took the helmet from his head, revealing a hardened dark face topped with a black regulation haircut, and accented with blue eyes made of stone.

"Are you here to fill the gap, soldier?" He asked, eyes locking onto my gear. I nodded wordlessly, as he pointed to a locker.

"You can stow your personal affects in that locker, they'll make sure it gets to the next ship we get picked up on. Welcome to Noble Team, Sargent. I've read up on your file, and you have quite the service record; I just hope your personal outbursts don't affect your performance on the mission." He continued, as I armored up.

"I've put all that behind me, sir." I lied, locking my armor's chest piece into place. I slipped on my helmet as Jorge came forward now looking a few inches taller than before with a full set of Spartan armor hugging him. It looked much bulkier than the others, with various obvious modifications and add-ons. Jun came forward wearing a set of armor in a green just darker than Jorge's, and a helmet that made him look almost like a frog.

With the team geared up and armed, we made our way through to loading. The doors opened a flurry of activity and noise as we made our way to an Albatross that was preparing to depart. A lot was going on around us as I saw Hazard standing with someone; both were armored and loading gear onto another Albatross across the hanger; however the other one wasn't Carol. She wore red shoulder plates that matched her chest plate and helmet stripe. I waved to them, and Hazard gave me a lifeless nod as the two stopped to talk by the looks of things. Hazard pointed at me as Jun shouted over.

"Hey, we are leaving! Come on!"

"I'm coming, keep your head on!" I shouted back, running for the dropship. I got a chill as I climbed into the side-seat of a rather large warthog, looked like it was scaled up to seat Spartans.

"So sir, I never did get your name!" I bellowed out over the noise of the hanger.

"Carter, or Noble One if you're feeling formal!" He yelled back as the Albatross' large doors rose up, sealing us in an armored box. The lights came on while I started whistling an old tune she used to sing before we dropped…


End file.
